Dan Rodricks: Maryland law professor finds history on the side of Trump disqualification

Mark Graber, the Maryland law professor whose constitutional expertise helped disqualify from office a New Mexico man who joined the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has concluded that Donald Trump’s words and actions fit the historic definition of an insurrectionist — strongly suggesting that he, too, should be barred from office. In a brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court, Graber argues that the former president engaged in insurrection in its well-documented, well-understood meaning. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment clearly forbids anyone who engages in insurrection, after swearing to support the Constitution, from holding office.